Casino
Reviewed by:
Kawzmo118, on september 15, 2007 5 of 5 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 375

Purchased from: Private Seller, craigslist.com

Features: Alright, well, I got a hell of a deal on this thing. It's a 2002 Korean-built Epi Casino, Cherry Finish, 22 medium frets, mahogany neck, rosewood fretboard with parallelogram inlays. Beatifully archtopped, the top is laminated maple, as well as it's back and sides. Full body and neck binding, and the Cherry finish is svelte and exquisite. It can go anywhere from a nice maroon in the dark, to a shimmering crimson glow glistening under a lamp. The body is a thinline-archtop configuration, with dual cutaways, and is completely hollow. The only qualm in playability is its neck heel, but more of that later. Bridge-wise, it features typical Gibson style saddles and bridge, along with a trapeze tailpiece. The pickups. The P-90 single-coils are absolutely amazing. As far as controls. there is 3-way PU selector Switch above the treble side F-hole, along with 4 knobs in all, 2 volume, 2 tone. 1 for each of the two P-90s, allowing great versatility in tone. The tuners, even for being Epiphone Kluson knock-offs, have held the guitar near-completely in-tune in the week that I've owned it, since day 1. As far as accesories, I was able to walk away with a TKL hard-case with matching red interior for a stunning combo of looks and functionality. All in all, I was able to walk away with a Casino for 5/8 (they usually go for $600) the price of a new one, with a $100 case, and this guitar was in better condition than any Guitar Center floor model. // 9

Sound: As for my music style, I tend to cover allot of Beatles, so obviously this will get that job done, but also it can tread into heavy-blues (Cream and the like) and Sabbath-esque territory. P-90s are wonderful pickups, and they provide a nice, crispy crunch, or a fetal-position-inducing stomp, making it perfect for rhythm, but don't get me wrong, they are no EMG, so don't expect insane amounts of gain from these pups. Still, much to my surprise, I could pull some Mayhem off with this bad-boy, and thanks to the P-90's clarity I could pick out the nuances of my picking out of what would usually be a muddy, gain-wrought mess. And yes, the Legend is true, this guitar can let loose a bowel-loosening howl, but only if you're playing at concert volume, I'm talking like, Tokyo Budokan, or Shea Stadium level concert volume. Even then, all ya gotta do is stand back from your amp. And one last reminder, the P-90s do indeed hum, just don't crank your gain like it's going out of style and you'll avoid the hu. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: As far as how this thing came out of the factory, I would have no idea, I am not the original owner. But, I can tell you that any, and quite possibly all the Korean-made Casinos far surpass there Chinese brethren when it comes to quality and playability, so if you're in the market, do yourself a favor and ask for a Korean model. As far as the MIK Casinos go, they have excellent action, but it's almost too good, so raise the action just a tad to avoid fretting out or fret buzz. The guitar as I received it was in immaculate condition, not only from care, but build-quality as well. The Koreans knew how to build what they built, even on such a large scale. No loose wires, no odd wood blemishes, everything runs together nicely, even the f-hole finishing was near perfect (it can be corrected with a Sharpie and a patient, steady hand). In this area, it was nothing short of flawless. Remember, buy Korean, do not, I repeat, do not buy a Chinese one. They feel like they were made of plywood and Elmer's glue, and the action is always terribly off and can induce terrible fret buzz, or your temper. // 10

Reliability & Durability: Will this guitar withstand Live playing? I could trust spider monkeys pitching their waste as if they were auditioning for the Astros to do their worst and this thing would still come out smelling like roses and that musty, new-case smell. Question answered? The hardware is blemish-free, no tarnished or rusted spots. Everything was otay. Strap buttons? More solid than Chuck Norris. Only someone with an extreme case of paranoia (like, I'm talkin' Stalin-level") would go through the trouble of applying those pesky Dunlop Strap Locks. The finish I do worry about, but I imagine over time it will only get better and attain a more natural, orangish glow. // 10

Overall Impression: As for my usual catalog of rare Beatles songs, blues improvisation, and Doors jams, this thing does it all and leaves room for dessert. For me, I've been playing the better part of nearly 6 years, but I've only gotten serious in the past 4 months, I've leapt from power chords to pentatonic and blues scale leads, and I'm slowly getting even better, and for that purpose, my Epiphone G-400 "Vintage" has served me well, but I have always wanted one of these, being a life-long Beatle fanatic and all. I don't regeret this purchase at all, except I sometimes wonder what couldve been, as my dad was willing to shill out for a low-end Gibson, but I think now and realize I would've rued the day I let such an incrdibe deal slip through my hands. If it were stolen or lost, I'd probably ask some of the "fellas' to track down the guy and break his kneecaps, oh, and return the guitar to me of course. Moral of the story? Or morals. Check craigslist and the paper, even pawnshops and local music stores for a good deal on one of these, that way you don't have to get stuck with a $600 Chinese shitbox! And to reiterate, buy a Korean-built one, or a Japanese one, or if you're a lucky SOB, a prized USA-built model. Find the oen that fits you right and really resonates (in both ways). And finally, just don't buy a Chinese one, oh dear god, no. // 9

Sound: With my style being sort of brit pop (mainly play Oasis) it fits in perfectly to my style. I use the guitar through a Zoom Fire 30 and sometimes a Korg AX10-G guitar effects module. The Casino has a nice warm tone. In fact on the site I got it from it is described as "this guitar is all about tone." It has fantastic tone for my style and I enjoy playing it because of the sound it makes. Although I've only had the guitar for about a week I have found that there isn't a thing I can't play with it. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: This will probably be changed to N/A but there was nothing wrong with the guitar, all perfectly set up. // 10

Overall Impression: I got this guitar as a present from my parents after doing well in my GCSE's and I was actually after an Epiphone Dot 335, I was very shocked when I pulled out a Casino (200 more). This guitar suits my style perfectly and I would only change it if it breaks (which I can't see happening). I also have a Les Paul Special II so this guitar is a massive step up for me, and the quality seems too good to be true. I chose to get a semi acoustic because I wanted an electric guitar which is more for rhythm than lead and I also love the 335 style body. If this guitar was stolen I would hunt down the person who stole it and get it back, or failing that buy another one. Top marks to Epiphone on a quality product. // 10

Casino
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on february 01, 2010 0 of 1 people found this review helpful

Price paid: € 650

Purchased from: local shop

Features: Okay here it goes, the review for my 5 year old epi Casino. Made in 2004/05 in Korea. It features:
-2-Alnico P90's (single coils, dog hears;
-Chrome Hardware;
-Full hollow body (nice feedback!)
-Maple body and Mahogany neck (set);
-Tune-O-Matic bridge and a trapeze;
-24 frets, with parallelogram inlays;
-Included a Jack Cable.
Mine comes wit a cherry finish, and it has beautiful work, I've seen some others with a heavier cherry, I picked this one because it looked more attractive to me, others may disregard this opinion. I find the features are all that I looked for, since I was a Casino fan before, and still am. But, since I must be as objective as possible: it could have, middle pickup, double single coils with selection for humbuckin or single coiled, Variax technology (which should feature each possibility and switch of the featured guitars) beside the pickups, killer switches for both tone and pickup selection, robot tuners and built in clock just in case.
So that would be a ten, and even though it would pick a hammer and dismantle each of those features and turn it to a standard hollow body electric guitar, it get's a five. // 5

Sound: The sound was a click for me... I picked it up and bang, this is it. I want to make love to you, really dry and rough. Like the desert plug into an amp, ready to rock. Listen to Get back from the Beatles, that's it. Now, this can change, you turn the neck pickup with a little less tone and you can get those jazzy tones you'd get from some ES, but not perfectly like, less full but I find that I can turn that away with a little reverb on my Roland JC and some eq. I use it every saturday night to perform jazz standards such as Autumn Leaves, My funny valentine, So What or Summertime and never a band member complained it lacked The Feeling of Jazz. Now to rock and roll, in my band I use it with the full tone and dry sound I described earlier, it can get from nice clean for RHCP Under the bridge or some peculiar dirty like Queens Of The Stone Age Rhythm or those feedback from Kings Of Leon or Santana. It does not like heavy distortion though, it's awful... You loose all that tone and it yells just noise.
The only big issue are the live feedbacks, at high volumes you pay for that full hollow and those p90's, it just won't keep quiet. Other than that, it has moderately versatile sound and juiced up tone. If you play rock you should get a compressor to enhance sustain.
I've got to this sounds through a POD Xt live, a DigiTech GNX2, a Roland Cube 30 and JC, a Fender champion and a Line 6 spider iii. It may react differently to other amps, like the tinny terror combo (my bands mate) that hardens up your sound to real crunch without requiring a compressor or distortion pedal. With a Fender bassman though you can listen to the thin sound it naturally has. // 8

Action, Fit & Finish: Perfect finish, love it in all ways, just perfect cherry blossom finish all over it. Beautiful pearl inlays that Shine all over, take some care of the neck and that nice healthy rosewood brown will not get a tan, I just use fast fret and it makes the deal. Love the tuners, never let me down, but their not some of those hard things that won't move and take the fun out of playing, you tune it every once in a long time. Now the action, I thought it was a little low from factory cause when I used my bottle neck sometimes I knocked the wood... Some friends say I got it too high, well so this is my opinion: too low for me, good for a normal player. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Hey full hollow, it probably can fall on the floor once and live to it. Do you want to try? I didn't, it is reliable as I've borrowed a 20 year old one that is still rockin' but I wouldn't throw it up in the air or mosh with it... Else from that it has been used in countless shows and unlike my jap Strat it never got those little issues like the jacks don't make contact, or the tuners need to get bolted again... I got Dunlop straplocks the day I bought it so I've got no opinion on those... It get's a seven because it's full hollow... It's a sturdy guitar, but it cannot endure kicking it around or been throw to the other side of the stage, a tele probably can, but the only guitar actually do that is a plastic thing with pickups I own. // 7

Overall Impression: Overall if you want classic rock, you can have one it can match some sounds, if you want cool jazz, you can have one it nails it down. But this is no Les Paul nor Dot so you might consider to play one before getting it. It is a very personality full guitar, it's like the tele's twang, you can get other sounds from a tele but in the end of the day you plug it and it has that twang all to the bones. So not your cameleon guitar, not a single purpose one. Matches all I play from Ac\Dc to Wes Montgomery, love every single detail about the guitar, but I can see it's character may not be to everyone's taste. I would say it's like a Strat or a tele 'cause you can do almost everything with it, but doesn't mean it was designed for all that. // 9

Sound: I play mostly Blues/Blues-rock/Indie music and this guitar compliments these styles beautifully. I'm playing this through a Vox AC4 and a Marshall DSL401 amp and it packs a great punch. The hollow-body paired with single coil P90s provides depth of tone with superb aural clarity.
The neck pickup has typical neck pickup tone, very warm with a touch more bass and depth than the bridge and I found this perfect for rhythm work. The bridge pickup was a lot more trebly (but not too much) and offers quite a jangly sound. This is great for arpeggios.
Playing this through my Ibanez TS9 really brings this guitar to life. The tubescreamer adds a bit of crunch to my tone and when both pickups are selected it gives great blues tones.
Overall I would say this guitar has reasonably variety in tone. Not going to be able to handle too much distortion but that's not really my style so much. Great cleans, good with a bit of Drive and able to handle everything I do from Blues and 60s rock to Indie. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: This was pre-owned (by one of the New York Dolls) and when I got it I was having buzz problems. I realised this was from the bridge saddles needing a bit of filing and it is fine now that's sorted out.
Another issue was the tone and volume pots. They are scratchy and when I got the guitar they were loose (this resulted in losing one inside the guitar which required a lot of shaking to get it back through the hole again, seriously took so long!).
The rest was fine and I've been able to set the action quite low for a guitar of this sort. // 7

Reliability & Durability: This guitar, for a hollowbody, is very solidly built. Aside from the loose electronics (which I contribute to the previous owner) this guitar doesn't feel fragile or troublesome. Everything is very solidly put together and this would definitely withstand live playing.
The tuners are reliable and steady, as is the bridge and the electronics. No real complaints here. // 9

Overall Impression: Overall I think this is a cracking guitar. I'm able to recreate those classic Beatles sounds as well as blues and Indie guitar. I would say this is definitely more geared towards rhythm guitarists than leads but is a fantastic guitar.
If it were stolen I would only buy another Korean one (the Chinese ones I've played were totally different, in a bad way).
I've been playing for 6 years and this is definitely one of the better guitars I've owned. It's much more hardwearing than other similar guitars in the market. The thin hollowbody makes it more comfortable to play and wieldy than hollow Gretsches and the P90s deliver great tone.
Overall, brilliant. // 9

Casino
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on december 01, 2010 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: € 480

Purchased from: Music Store Koln

Features: This guitar has a laminated maple body, a mahogany neck and a rosewood fingerboard.Its scale is 629mm which is quite long but it feels nice. It has 2 alnico P90 pickups, 2 volume controls and 2 tone controls. I bought it with a Vintage sunburst finish although I prefer it with a cherry finish. // 9

Sound: I play Punk, Indie and Alternative. Mostly Clash, Libertines, Smiths, Oasis etc. This guitar is perfect for these styles! I play through a Fender Princeton 65 DSP and it sounds lovely with the clean channel although the Drive channel doesn't really suit it. That doesn't mean it doesn't sound good but with a solid-body guitar it would sound better. The sound is really soft and I love it. I play rhythm guitar and sing in a band and the lead guitarist loves it. Its perfect for the style I play so I rate it with a 10. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The store didn't had this guitar on stock so I bought the one everyone was trying. I never had a problem with this guitar and I have it for one year now. The only bad thing is the scratchplate which is kinda cheap. Otherwise this is just fine. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I would certainly take this guitar on a gig. I mean if J.Lennon, P.Doherty and others played with it on big live shows with more than 2.000 people than I guess it would work on a gig with 200 people :p
As I said I had no problems with this guitar and I hope/think it will last for much longer. // 10

Overall Impression: Just buy it ;). The guitar is brilliant. If it were stolen I would buy the same guitar on a cherry finish or if I had money I would buy a Gibson hollow body. Before buying it a also thought of buying a Epiphone Dot and I'm glad I didn't. A friend of mine bought one and the Casino is so much better. // 10

Casino
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on january 25, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: C$ 625

Purchased from: local music store

Features: The Casino is a thin line, completely hollow body guitar. Mine was made in 2010 in China & has the following features:
-quite light (estimate 5-6 lbs) which is exactly what I was looking
-very comfortable to play and well-balanced. (Most guitars I have owned have tended to be "neck heavy", pulling down on the strap but the Casino stays upright when strapped on without any need for me to hold it in place).
-the neck is made of mahogany, 1 & 11/16 inches in diameter at the nut, 22 frets, 24.75 inch scale length & joins the body at the 17th fret and is smooth and easy to play.
-Tuneomatic bridge and trapeze tailpiece. The action was a little low for me, but there was no fret buzz at all.
-2 P 90 single coil pickups, and they produce the typical hum,Chrome dog ear pick up covers
-3 way pick up selector and independent Volume and Tone controls for each pick up.
-Epiphone knock-offs of Kluson tuners
-Rosewood fingerboard with Parallelogram inlays
-single body & neck binding
-white pickguard with the Epiphone "E" symbol, which was some kind of sticker that fell off shortly after I got the guitar // 9

Sound: I was attracted to the Casino in many ways because I thought it would suit my playing style (mostly rhythm/strumming rather than single string lead) & it produces the sound of the individual strings within chords with a lot of clarity. On those rare occasions when I do play lead type riffs the sound is fuller than I expected. I find that the P 90 pickups are not as shrill or thin sounding as the single coils of Fenders. The pick ups hum as single coils do, but I don't find it to be an irritation, rather it's just a way of announcing, "I'm playing an electric guitar." This is the first completely hollow body electric guitar I have owned and I read a lot about problems with feedback with this type of guitar, but I haven't really experienced that; likely because my amp just can't produce enough gain (Bad Cat Mini Cat). When I tried the guitar at the store I plugged into a high gain amp (Roland, can't remember which model) & when I cranked the gain it did feed back. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: I suspect that this guitar had its set-up tweaked at the store & what I got was not a straight from the factory set-up & so I have no real complaints with it. I will say that as far as appearance goes, the Casino is not as nice as the Epiphone Shearton II which I have also owned, both in Natural finish. The Casino in natural looks more like the Fender Butterscotch Blonde color than the Sheraton II in natural. The Sheraton II had triple binding of the body, neck, head & f-holes while the Casino has single binding of the body & neck only. The Casino's f-holes have an uneven coat of black paint applied to them & the finish on the neck where it joins the body is also uneven. However, it is the sound of the guitar that matters most & not its appearance. // 8

Reliability & Durability: I have owned one other Epiphone guitar in the very recent past and they seem to be making pretty decent products (even those produced off-shore) these days. Back in the 90's, I tried some solid body Epiphones & they felt like junk, but I think the quality of their consstruction has improved over all. I would really like to see how this guitar handles a live gig, but I don't get many opportunities these days. So far everything seems solid, but time will tell. // 8

Overall Impression: I've been playing over 20 years, many different styles including pop, alternative, country, rockabilly & now moving into blues. I've owned guitars made by Gibson, Fender, G & L, Music Man, Godin as well as by Dean, Hamer, Yamaha, Squier & Samick. I keep buying guitars & saying this is the last one, but I always seem to change my mind & decide that I want something different. I really like the light weight, the thin body & the balance of the Casino as well as the sound of the P- 90 pick ups. The only things that I have found to be less than exceptional about this guitar are the appearance issues that were mentioned above, but these are very minor in the big picture. There were several other guitars I was considering including the Gretsch Electromatic Hollowbody, PRS SE Korina Singlecut and One, Fender or Squier Thinline Telecaster and Danelectros and Parkers, but I chose the Casino because it seemed like a good balance between decent quality and reasonable price, it offered more potential tonal variations with Volume & Tone controls for each pick up which not all of the others had and my favorite local guitar store is an Epiphone dealer & they don't carry the others except for the Gretsch. Over all I have been very pleased with this guitar so far & I hope this will be the one I keep for the rest of my life. // 9

Casino
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on may 24, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 600

Purchased from: Brazilian Guitar Shop

Features: Traditional Casino VS features, 2010 model sunburst finish. I actually was looking foward in buying an Epiphone Dot because of the price these guitars reach in Brazil, when I was at the store the salesman brought me the box which was supposed to contain an Epiphone Dot sunburst finish, when I opened it the salesman was answering someone else's question and when I saw it was the Casino I closed it down really quick and told him I would take it right away, I actually bought the Casino with the dot's price! // 10

Sound: I play anything and everything going from rock and roll to good ol' fashioned blues, I'm a feedback fiend and velvet underground enthusiast, not a Standard venus in furs druggie wanna be, more of a I heard her call my name Narcotic Anonymous member... I use this guitar in the studio hooked up to a Fender Twin Amp 100-Watt All-Tube Guitar Amp and I use a Fender starcaster distortion pedal, at home I use a Brazilian Meteoro 20W solid state amp with the same effects pedal and both of those set ups suit me quite well. The starcaster is a distortion pedal, so the gain needs to be quite low in order to get nice overdriven sounds of it, or else the damn thing feedbacks like crazy. I love the sound of it in everyway, unplugged it's almost like an Acoustic because of the full hollow body, plugged into the clean channel the P-90 pick ups are full of rich tone and a slight twang that resembles the tele a little, cranked the amp up without effects you get a lovely overdriven sound that hound dog Taylor comes to mind, and even with distortion effect on it you can work yourself on the volume and tone knobs to get a feedback free rich tone, helter skelter style.. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The only thing that was a little off was the action, everything else was perfect! The sunburst finish is beautiful but I can see myself sanding it down to a natural finish in a few years... The tuners holds up the tone quite alright but I can see myself putting in some original Gibson tunning machines to get a different look, the white ones would look wonderful on it and I wonder if they fit the preexisting holes or if I'll need to drill new ones to get the new knobs in it. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I have only played this in my home and the studio and both were suitable, I am aching to see how it holds up in a gig because of the feedback, but that'll have to wait a while... I am well satisfied with it and it's the only guitar I have since I sold the other one in order to buy this one, I will definetly depend on it! // 10

Overall Impression: I play a lot of my own compositions which go eveywhere in between rock and roll and the blues, I like playing covers of B sides of my favorite bands which are Stooges, MC5, Velvet Underground, Rolling Stones, Beatles, New York Dolls, early Floyd (interstellar overdrive type of thing) Elvis, traditional blues standards and etc... Every genre and style I play on this guitar is great, it can go in so many directions, and even though I'm not the lead guitarist in my band I play tasty leads in the casino, the treble on top tone and volume a on around 5 or 6 depending on how high the amp is cranked the guitar jumps up and bites you in the ass, great punch! I've been playing for 8 years or so, the past 3 in a real band, and before that I owed a squiet Telecaster while learning and then a Gibson SG Special, going from solid body single coils and humbuckers to a hollow body P-90 gave me a completely different perspective towards my playing, the response I get from the volume and tone knobs and Switch also blows me away, nothing I had experienced before.
I would definetly buy this guitar again but since I am a guitar enthusiast I would like to try a Telecaster before getting the Casino again. I compared it to the Epiphone Dot before buying it and the trapeze Bridge and P-90's made it a hell of a lot more interesting than the Dot, I wish it had a bigsby but nothing like a 100 dollars and I'll get that wish conceived... The main thing that makes me curious is how the Dot will sound with a P-90 eversince that solid block inside of it helps with the feedback, but I'll stick with the Casino until I can find that out... // 10

Sound: The P-90's are wonderful, exactly what I imagined it would be. The pick response you get from it is just amazing, fingerstyle without touching the volume with a Fender starcaster distortion pedal (with just a bit of overdrive) the sound is very warm and gentle, with a pick and heavy strumming the sound is very bright and sharp, with a easily recognized distorted tone, very bluesy and with a hint of a twang. It suits all the music I've tried playing with it, I use a Meteoro 200w Qx amp and a 20w Meteoro Nitrous amp and both amps sound amazing with this guitar. The clean channel with a high gain has a beautiful tone and with just the volume knob and pick-up Switch you can get a variety of tones from the guitar. With the distortion pedal you can get an amazing pick attack response and a beautiful Vintage valve overdriven amp tone, the distortion level needs to be very low in order to reduce feedback, or you can adjust the volume and set the distortion a little higher, either way it's not that difficult. I play all sorts of music, and this guitar can handle it all, if you want to see how you can play the Casino lead and solo with it right next to the amp without having troubles with feedback just watch The Beatles Rooftop concert where John plays lead on get back and he's standing right next to his amp with no feedback problems at all. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: Beautiful finish although I can see myself sanding it down in a couple of years, the chrome hardware seems to be losing a bit of the Shine but it's still very nice. The action was a little high but a luthier can fix that in no time. Everything else in the guitar is beautiful. // 9

Reliability & Durability: Definetly will stand live playing, and apparently everything seems to be built to last. The strap buttons are regular and I definetly depend on it, since I sold my backup in order to by this one. The finish is nice, not that old school sunburst but still nice, I can see myself sanding it down in a couple of years. // 9

Overall Impression: I play blues standards and B' sides, psychedelic rock, a little country, punk, and classic. I'm a huge Velvet Underground fan along with MC5 and Stooges, so the feedback from the full hollowbody is very welcome. The tone from the P-90's is just amazing, I've been playing for about 6 years and this is the best guitar I've owed. I went into the shop looking foward to buying an Epiphone dot, and the salesman brought the Dot box with a Casino in it, I didn't even hesitate and purchased it at the time, lucky enough they didn't even open the box to check it so I got the Casino for the dot's price, which is an extremelly bih difference in Brazil. The only thing I see myself doing with this guitar besides sanding it in a couple years is adding Gibson pick-ups just for the sake of it. // 9

Casino
Reviewed by:
fuzzhead098, on august 22, 2011 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: C$ 600

Purchased from: Long and McQuade

Features: My Casino was purchased about a year ago and is a korean made 2008 model. It is maple topped with a sunburst finish like The Beatle's original Casinos it is fitted with 2 P-90 pickups and the Standard 2 volume, 2 tone and 3 way pick up selector. All hardware is nickel with grover tuners. As far as I know, it is a Standard issue casino. // 9

Sound: My original intensions of buying the Casino was to replicate the classic Beatles tone. (which it does very well). My interests have sinse changed a little and I now use it to make the stoner metal sounds of bands such a Queens Of The Stone Age. My current favourite set-up is my Casino through a cranked Boss Blues Driver into my Typhoon JB-24 30 watt bass amp. The Casino shines best when the mids and lows are cranked. I'll occasionally add effects such as wah-wah and tremolo. The guitar definately sounds better with anolog style effects compared to more digital ones such as chorus and flangers. The Bridge pick-up is relatively noiseless even with high overdrive the neck pick-up is much more noisy. The P-90s are very responsive to your pick attack and can range from clean arpeggios to punchy power chords without touching volume knobs. I barely ever play with the knobs just because it sounds perfect at 100%. It also sounds best with heavier gauge strings to deliver the punch I like. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: I have barely tampered with the factory presets of the guitar. I perhaps have lowered the action a little to combat some string buzz I was encountering at the higher strings. Adjusting action by the way is a dream and does not even require destringing the guitar. For one gig, I had the action very high to play a slide guitar part and then took about 2 minutes to readjust the action to my preference. Although I'm not sure whether its general wear (I've played this guitar a lot) or factory fault, I think the electronics may be starting to deteriorate. // 9

Reliability & Durability: I have used this guitar for countless gigs and it has never let me down. The Bridge is extremely easy on strings. The strings have endured constant drops to C Standard tuning and back up with out a single break. (I use Ernie Ball's Hybrid Slinky strings) The strap buttons are still as solid as the the day I bought the guitar and they've never dropped my strap. Over time the volume knobs have become a bit wiggly but I'm sure its an easy fix once I get around to it. On a more serious note, the neck pick has become very muddy sounding and is almost unusable. I'm almost thinking something's happened to its tone knob to make it sound like the tone is permanently rolled back. I'll have to take this into the shop to fix but both Epiphone and Long and McQuade offer excellant warranties and will cost me very little to have done. // 8

Overall Impression: This is an excellent guitar in every spectrum. If your musical tastes include but are not limited to Jazz, Blues, Elvis, the British invasion, Sabbath, Zeppelin, The Sex Pistols, Queens Of The Stone Age, Eagles Of Death Metal, White Stripes, The Black Keys, or anything similar, please consider buying this guitar. Its definately not for metal players. I personally have been playing for about three years and also own an Ibanez ART 100 also an excellent affordable guitar. I would buy the Casino again without a second thought. // 10

Casino
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on january 24, 2012 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 800

Purchased from: Guitar Center

Features: Now I know what you're thinking, $800 for a Casino? This is a 50th anniversary "1961" Epiphone Casino, number 190 in a production run of only 1,961. Most people reading this review will think I'm just giving it a fantastic rating because most people do. But everything I'm saying about this guitar is true. It was made in 2011, in a Chinese factory. It has 21 frets, and because the neck joins the body at the 16th fret, every fret up to the 18th is easy to reach. The headstock has the classic "T Shaped" Epiphone name plate. The neck is rosewood, and extremely comfortable to play. The double cutaway body is made of maple/birch, and being a completely hollow body, it is very light, which is good for a tiny person like me.
It has a beautiful Royal Tan finish on the top, which is flawless, and the sides and back have a translucent mahogany finish. The body is identical in shape to a Gibson ES-335, so it is familiar and comfortable. It uses Gibson USA passive P-90 single coil pickups, which sing like they should. 2 volume knobs and 2 tone knobs, and a 3 way selector switch (as is common to most Gibson/Epiphone guitars). The Wilkinson Vintage-Style tuners are extremely accurate and make tuning very easy. The guitar also came with a short instrument cable, a signed certificate of authenticity, and a period-correct grey tolex case. // 10

Sound: I play mainly hard rock and blues, and in buying this guitar I was looking for a good hollow body guitar that could handle this. The pickups sing beautifully clean, and I only wish they were a bit brighter. I've heard about the Casino giving much unwanted feedback when put through distortion and gain, but I've never had any problems with it. It has a rich, full sound no matter what I put it through. The guitar can make a wide variety of tones, suitable for any style of music (except possibly heavy metal). Playing it through a Fender Frontman, a Vox AC-30, and an Egnater Tweaker, it sounds fantastic no matter what. // 9

Action, Fit & Finish: From the factory, the action is low, too low. The strings buzz and hit the frets when I strum too hard, and I am having it set up this week. The pickups were set to perfect height to provide great, clean, loud tone. The trapeze tailpiece and tune-o-matic bridge work well in making the strings ring out clearly and increase sustain. Other than the low action, I have had no problems with the playability. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This guitar has withstood several performances and is a perfect workhorse. I use it in the studio, live, and at practices, it has replaced my other guitars almost completely. I am sure the hardware will last for ages and I will depend on it almost completely. When I gig with it, I do use a backup. Never because of failing electronics, only because it may not have the right sound for a certain song. The finish is flawless and I don't think it will wear off anytime soon, but it's such a beautiful guitar, that if it did, I don't think I would mind. // 10

Overall Impression: This guitar works almost perfectly with the style of music I play (I still keep a Stratocaster handy) and I would rely on it for whatever. Other than this, I own a 1991 Fender Stratocaster, a Squier Jagmaster (used for fat, warm tones), and a Strat ripoff of unknown origin. I use this more than any of them, but keep the Strat at the ready. If this guitar was stolen, I would definitely buy it again, although I have my eye on a Gibson Non-Reverse Firebird Studio. I love everything about this guitar, and only wish that it was a little brighter toned. I love this guitar, and if anyone can get hold of one before the production is sold out, I recommend you do it! // 10

Casino
Reviewed by:
Ska291, on april 05, 2013 0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Features: This guitar was made in 2011 in China (unfortunately). Has standard 22 frets. Mahogany Neck, which is fantastic. Laminated Maple top, sides and body. Tune-o-Matic Bridge as with almost all Epiphone and Gibson products. Mine is a natural transparent finish. The wood is incredibly good looking. Two great Alinco Dog-Ear P90s (Neck and Bridge), with a volume and tone knob and three way selector switch. The Tuners are great, hold tune very well, I rarely have to tune the guitar as long as I keep it in standard tuning. I did buy a guitar case with it, the standard Gibson Es-335 style one, which fits this guitar perfectly, very tight and snug. // 9

Sound: This guitar perfectly fits my music style, I play Jazz, Blues and Ska. The body is entirely hollow, unlike an ES-335 which has a solid block of wood in it, giving it a very rich and warm tone. I play almost entirely on the Neck pickup, which sounds excellent, the bridge pickup is fantastic as well. I play it through a variety of Amps, anywhere from a Vox VT-20 for practice to a larger Vox AC-30. Sounds excellent regardless, I rarely use any effects except possibly a small amount of wah-wah or flange. This beast has a huge tonal palette to, which I have not full explored, It can easily go from jazz to hard rock. The neck pickup is warm and deep, and the bridge pickup sounds like nothing else. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: The action from the factory was abysmal, the strings almost touched the first fret, however Outlaw gladly fixed this when I purchased it. It is fantastic now, No problems what'soever. One additional flaw that occurred several months after purchasing it, was, the input jack fell into the body cavity, which took quite a bit of effort to dig out and reassemble. However, quality of the wood and electronics was fantastic, and I was surprised to see how well it was built, coming from china. Almost everything, from the bridge to the nut was fantastic. // 6

Reliability & Durability: This guitar has, and will easily survive live playing, I would go without a backup, very dependable. I have had numerous other musicians comment on the quality of this particular instrument, as it is very well made. The hardware will last for a very long time, as I can tell right now, but time will tell. The strap buttons are very solid. Very very solid. Normally I put strap locks on all of my instruments, but I decided not to on this one because they are so solid, and It is hard work to get a strap off the guitar. The finish seems solid, I can see this guitar last for a very long time. // 9

Overall Impression: I am incredibly impressed by the quality of this guitar, seeing as it was manufactured in China. I have other Chinese and Indonesian Epiphones and none of them even compare in quality and tone to this one. Playing Jazz and blues largely it is a dream. Warm and rich, very bluesy. I would definitely buy it again if it was stolen or lost. When buying it I compared it to other hollow-body and semi-hollow guitars, however most of them were much much deeper, not that that is bad, but the Casino is thinner, making it easier to handle in comparison to other hollow-body guitars. // 9

captain faggot wrote:
whats up with the massive feedback i hear about? any truth to that?

The thing is, the P-90's feed back a helluva lot anyway, and the body is totally hollow, that's why thye feedback a lot more than the other two Epis, the Sheraton and the Dot. Unless you playing at ear popping levels or stupid amounts of gain it won't be a huge problem.

Oh man, I got one last week, I was actually planning on getting a Maton acoustic.
Oh well, this thing is absolutely beautiful, great for a Beatle's obsessed lefty like me. The Natural finish one is to die for.

Oh man, I want one of these so bad.....in any case, just stuff a shirt or something in the body if feedback's a problem. Jazz musicians do that on occasion, and it does indeed cut down on the feedback.

A great guitar! I went in to the shop to pick up a backup for my Ibanez Jet King II and took a natural finish Casino off the wall on a whim. The salesmen told me to crank the OD on the Vox AC30CC I was running through (which is the same amp I own) and play the opening riff of Revolution. I haven't put it down since.
When I asked the salesman about feedback his response was perfect; "Well, when I bought mine the guy said feedback might be a problem and I said 'no, I won't have any problem getting feedback out of this!'"
I don't get any squeal out of mine unless I try to.

one of my friends got this guitar, and it's very good for chordy or bluesy sort of pieces. when you play stuff on some of the really high frets, it doesn't always sound so good, and the feedback can be a problemm sometimes. but if you play the guitar for the stlye of music it was designed for then its good

I don't know whether things have changed since September 2007 but I bought a new 2008 Chinese version and its fantastic, much nicer to play than my Korean model. It did need a bit of tweaking though: action easily lowered, new strings and tightened the screw on the back of the pickguard to stop the slight buzz.
The finish is also fantastic and the guitar very well made. Either you got a bad example or things have improved!

I just got a Chinese one too and it aint bad. The action was insanely high and the strings were pretty gross since it was a floor model but both were quick fixes. Now it sounds more than great. The fretboard has some ugly scratches on it, maybe tool marks, but it still sounds fantastic and that's all that really matters. I would probably have gotten a different Casino, but it it was the only cherry red they had in stock and its really not that big of a deal. Besides, like the first review said, the finish was unbelievable and there's no way I'd settle for a sunburst or natural after seeing the cherry. Only thing I'd change is to put a piezo in the bridge and really abuse the fully hollow body. Still an A class instrument

I have had a Casino for around 8 months. I went in to buy a Dot and was a bit disappointed. It looked good in photos but was rough in real life. The neck is a bit course and the action disappointing. The salesman then handed me the Casino and the difference is immense. I play blues and rock. I play plenty of Cream and Clapton stuff and find the problems with notes in the higher positions poor, then you've got your amp or pickup controls set wrong! I find the notes around the 15th fret as sweet as a peach when playing blues through a Vox AD50VT using a Vox AC30 modelling mode. If you use high gain settings with this guitar you may find it poor at low volumes. But I wouldn't swap my Casino for anything, It's a peach. My only complaint is that the PU selector switch seems a bit dodgy and could be a bit more robust. But that may be the problem with it being fitted to a hollow body.

i apologise if this an incredibly dumb question but, whats the difference between this and the john lennon sig? johns 1800 ish and this one is around 500... are you just paying for the name so to speak?

CharGuitarGirl wrote:
i apologise if this an incredibly dumb question but, whats the difference between this and the john lennon sig? johns 1800 ish and this one is around 500... are you just paying for the name so to speak?

I'm looking to buy this and play it into a Vox AC15. I hear mixed reviews in regards to the pickups and set-up, but I know people who can fix those things. Would a set of Lollar P-90s make it come to life?

I just got mine in cherry and damn... those p90s really sing. The only thing that took me off was that I was expecting it to feel like an electric guitar but it actually feels like an electro-acoustic guitar but thats not a bad thing

Just got mine in cherry too, oh man diggin it diggin it diggin it, oh yeah did I tell you guys also? I'm really diggin it. It really does as the comment above me says "feel like an electro-acoustic guitar" almost like a kind of hybrid, sounds hella loud unplugged. Part of why I got it, very warm and rich tone, can cover so many styles as with other Epiphone hollow bodies, one of the best guitars for the best price for sure. I mean damn there is some high quality going on here. All around a good guitar. I think I'll be using it for years to come before I get another guitar. Works for my jazz and all that other jazz.